1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to controls for partially automated vehicular transmission systems having an engine controller for controlling fueling of an internal combustion engine in response to command output signals from a system controller and a manually operated master friction clutch for drivingly connecting and disconnecting the engine from a transmission input shift. In particular, the present invention relates to a control for an automated vehicular transmission system of the type described which will sense manual disengagement of the master clutch during dynamic conditions with the transmission engaged and will automatically cause the engine to rotate at a speed substantially equal to the sensed or calculated speed of the transmission input shaft to minimize or eliminate shock due to rapid disengagement of the master clutch.
2. Description of the Related Art
Controls for automated mechanical transmission systems especially wherein dynamic shifting is accomplished while maintaining the master clutch engaged and or wherein the master clutch is manually controlled and is disengaged only for starting or stopping the vehicle, are known in the prior art, as may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,576,065; 4,916,979; 5,335,566; 5,425,689; 5,272,939; 5,479,345; 5,533,946; 5,582,069; 5,582,558; 5,620,392; 5,489,247; 5,490,063 and 5,509,867, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This problem, and a solution thereto, is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,569.
The prior art systems with manually controlled clutch pedals also provided the opportunity for abuse of the driveline as the driver has the ability, when the vehicle is moving with the transmission engaged, to disengage the clutch, cause the engine to accelerate or decelerate using and then releasing (i.e. engaging) the clutch pedal. This possibly caused driveline component users to use components designed to withstand such abuse, creating over-designed and excessively expensive components.
The control of the present invention provides a control for a vehicular automated, mechanical transmission system which will sense conditions indicative of potential dynamic abuse of the driveline due to disengaging and then re-engaging a manually controlled master friction clutch and will protect the vehicle from shocks due to such abuse.
The foregoing is accomplished in a system wherein operating conditions are sensed/determined and engine speed (ES) controlled by sensing vehicle dynamic conditions (i.e., if the vehicle ground speed is high (OS greater than REF), the transmission is engaged in a gear ratio, and if the master clutch is not fully engaged, then engine speed is controlled to substantially equal transmission input shaft speed (ES=IS=OS * GR).
The above control logic will minimize large driveline shocks caused by rapidly engaging (xe2x80x9cpoppingxe2x80x9d) the master clutch at engine speeds not substantially synchronized to driveline speeds.
Accordingly, an improved control for at least partially automated mechanical transmission is provided which will minimize driveline shocks due to dynamic clutch xe2x80x9cpoppingxe2x80x9d.
This and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in connection with the attached drawings.